Dark & Stormy
by GeminiMercedes
Summary: Beaten and battered by authorities for assaulting an officer. The story is ignored by the media but Sonic knows something is up. Especially when the victim manages to make his way to Sonic's apartment. SONADOW
1. Chapter 1

D&S: Chapter 1

"You sure you'll be able to get home safe, hun?" Rouge asked as she set down the tray of shots glasses she had picked up from table 8.

The hedgehog she had been speaking to scoffed and turned away from her.

"I thought I told you not to call me that." He replied sharply. She rolled her eyes and began placing the shot glasses in the sink behind the bar. If it hadn't been such a slow night, she might have walked away. But there were only a few customers tonight and she needed some entertainment.

"I'm working _kid_; I call everyone 'hun'"

"Well I'm neither." He said as he took another shot.

"That's your last one." She replied as she snatched the empty glass from his hand.

"That's really how you treat a good friend, Rouge?" He said with a smirk.

"Which friend are you referring to?" She retorted, a smug look appearing on her face.

"Whatever." He responded, rolling his eyes before heading for the door to the exit.

"You never responded to my first question." She called after him, looking around at the five or six people in the bar.

"I'll be fine." He said with a wave, and she was happy to hear no trace of sarcasm or annoyance in his voice.

She turned back to the glasses she had to wash and heard the door open and close as she turned on the faucet.

"Crazy kid, these streets aren't as safe as they used to be." She muttered to herself.

"Hey sexy, can we get a table close to you?" She heard a deep voice drawling in front of her.

"Excuse-" She looked up to respond to the man who had spoken to her when she realized it was more than one man walking in.

"You heard me. I need a nice big table for the fellas and a couple rounds of shots." The man continued. He was a large, pale, and hairy man in a police uniform. His 'group' looked about the same.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead put on her best fake smile. Human police were the worst customers. They always came in slightly intoxicated and overly perverted. They were ignorant, started fights with other male customers, and stared at some of the younger women in the bar. Most of them had wives and kids too.

"Sure, I'll be right over. Let me just-"She turned back to the glasses she now had to prepare in a rush when something cut her off. It was a large, hairy hand that had found its way around her neck. She looked up in shock. The same man who had been speaking to her was now nose-to-nose with her, one hand positioning him on the bar and other around her neck.

"Listen girly, take your sub-human self over to those bottles and pour us our damn drinks." He muttered angrily, his breath reeking of alcohol and other things Rouge really didn't want to smell.

She placed a hand on his to try and pull away but the man had an iron grip.

"Let me go, buddy or I'll have to call…" But she was at a loss, and her heart sunk further when she saw the laughter in the man's eyes.

"Who were you going to call again? Please, I'd love to hear it." He said with a smirk. She growled in disgust and tried again to pull away, using her foot to gain momentum as she pulled.

"Not going to work girly, now you've got me irritated." The man suddenly muttered, the muscles around his eyes suddenly tightened. Rouge looked behind him to see his group looking everywhere but at the two of them.

Her eyes widened.

"Wait, sir…please." She hated to plead, but she was running out of options.

That was until a black blur flew past her eyes.

The man was thrown across the room before he could realize who had shown up. He crashed into a Marilyn Monroe poster and hit the floor in a slow slump. The other police officers suddenly looked alert and angry.

"S-shadow! What are you doing?" Rouge asked in surprise, grasping at the space where a hand had just been around her neck.

"Didn't know the business was so bad you'd let these kinds of scum in." The black hedgehog said as he glared at the fallen officer.

"Shadow you have to leave, these are _police officers_!" Rouge hissed, watching as the other officers turned to Shadow and began advancing on the hedgehog menacingly.

"Who do you think you're calling scum you sub-human reject?" One of the officers with a long black moustache said, pulling out his baton as he spoke.

"For you to hit me with that, you'll have to catch me." Shadow scoffed, crossing his arms.

Rouge didn't like where this was going, but the shock from her recent encounter left her silent.

"This place is a bit small for a brawl; I'll meet you fools outside if you can catch me." Shadow taunted, winking before disappearing out of the club, the men slowly in tow.

Rouge shivered, worry currently taking over her emotions. But what was she to do? She didn't know anyone in the city that would help her and she couldn't call the police. She turned back to the dishes to avoid the sympathetic looks she was getting from the other patrons.

/

It was a boring night for Sonic. The blue hedgehog was currently watching television with his roommate Tails. The yellow fox was currently yawning and rubbing his eyes and Sonic was trying to ignore the urge to rub his own.

"What's wrong Sonic, you look irritated?" Tails asked with a raised eyebrow, ignoring the cartoon they were currently trying to watch.

"I'm fine Tails, just bored. I'm surprised they haven't called me in tonight. Friday nights are usually crazy in _this_ city." He replied, scratching at the blue uniform he had a habit of wearing, even on off nights.

"It is odd, now that you mention it. But as an officer you rarely get nights off so I'm not complaining." Tails admitted, changing the channel to a news broadcast. The channel changed in a flash of blue and the two roommates watched various broadcasters talk about the weather and the current elections.

"…And now turning to our main news reporter, Amy Rose!" The off-screen announcer declared. The camera whizzed to a pink hedgehog sitting cross legged on a white couch with a clipboard in her hand.

"Hello mobians! Hope you're having a great night! Here's a recap of our ongoing stories…" She continued on, referencing images and videos that popped up on the screen beside her.

"Can we turn it back?" Sonic groaned.

"She is so deep in love with you it's not even funny." Tails teased, punching Sonic lightly in the shoulder.

"Yeah, and she's not even my type."

"Well what is your type, Sonic? I don't think I've ever heard you explain your ideal girl." Tails asked, raising an eyebrow at his blue hedgehog friend.

Sonic grimaced and turned away from the fox's unflinching stare. It was innocent enough, but his secrets were too deep for it to penetrate.

"I'm not even sure, buddy. I'm so busy these days."

"So why not go out with Amy, she seems nice enough. A bit crazy, but it would probably get your mind off work." Tails said with a smile.

"I already told you she's not my-" Sonic started before hearing a large thump at the door.

The hedgehog and fox turned to each other and didn't move. They didn't have friends that would drop by this late and their studio apartment wasn't in the greatest sector of town.

"S-sonic…"

"I got it, don't worry." Sonic said as he got up. His gun wasn't with him, so his baton would have to do.

He grabbed the black shiny stick from the umbrella stand and tiptoed to the wooden door. He closed one eye as he looked through the peephole in the door.

No one was there.

"What the hell?" The blue hedgehog whispered. He could hear Tails shift deeper into the couch.

"Who's there?" The fox hissed.

"No one's there, actually." Sonic responded, shrugging as he turned back to walk to their living room.

He jumped almost half a foot when the same noise came from the door again. Staring at his roommate's wide eyes, he could tell the fox was holding back a scream.

"I got this, don't worry." He whispered reassuringly, turning back to the door.

This time he planned to open it.

He grasped the silver doorknob and twisted it slowly. He opened the door a slit, not even enough for the chain lock to stop him or any introducer to fully opening the door.

And at first he didn't see anything; it was a Friday night after all. But after his eyes adjusted he saw the red and black hedgehog passed out on the floor, covered in blood and cuts.

Sonic had wished for an interesting night, but he hadn't expected this.

/

**Surprise! I've been working on a lot of new stories and this is one of them! Still finishing up Interns, expect the finale next month. Hope my new and returning supporters enjoy this one! I promise it is going to be crazy. **

**-GeminiMercedes-**


	2. Chapter 2

Dark & Stormy

Chapter 2

"Hi, Ms. Rose! I'm the new reporter." A silver hedgehog said with a smile, shaking the pink hedgehog's hand enthusiastically.

"Nice to meet you, when are you starting?" She asked dryly, handing her clipboard full of stories to her assistant so she could relax while the hair and makeup people handled her touch ups.

"Well today's my first day. I'm Silver by the way; I'm the new weather reporter." He said with a smile.

Amy gave him a small smile, turning back to her mirror to inspect the work hair and makeup was doing.

"More curls Sofia; I'm going for a bouncy summer look today." She said curtly, turning to her cell phone as she spoke.

"Oh course Ms. Rose!" The hair stylist replied, grabbing a bigger curling rod to finish the job.

"Mr. Silver; if we are going to be working together, there are some rules you have to abide by." She said with a sickeningly sweet smile. Silver smile didn't falter, and possibly got bigger.

"I understand Ms. Rose, what do you need me to do?" He said with a nod.

"Well you can start by dressing a little better. A suit and tie never killed a man. Also, you could gel your spikes a bit better. Edgy but sexy, girls like a refined man…sometimes." She explained.

Silver nodded, and Amy could tell he was mentally taking note of what she was saying. She was so focused on that she missed her hair stylist rolling her eyes at her client's attempt to insult the new employee.

"Make sure you speak up, smile, and introduce me well." She continued, turning back to the mirror to inspect her curls.

"Oh and one more thing…" She started as she got up to leave the dressing room.

"Stay out of my way if you know what's good for you." She said with a smirk, turning on her heel to head to the meeting room.

Silver stood there silent as she walked away.

"Ignore her; she's in one of those moods." The stylist said, patting the hedgehog on the shoulder. The hedgehog flinched in response and turned to the owner of the hand.

"What do you mean?" Silver asked as if he had come out of a trance.

"You know that hero police officer, Sonic the Hedgehog? She asked him out the other day and he rejected her. Now we all have to feel it. I swear this is the third time this _month_." The stylist explained with a sigh, turning back to clean her tools of pink fur.

"Wow, guess I'll have to get used to that." He remarked, turning to the mirror to stare at his own reflection.

"You look fine kid, I can help you gel your quills down if you want though." Sofia said with a smile.

Silver returned the smile and sat down in the chair Amy had been previously occupying.

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt." He said with a shrug.

"Well at least not for you…" The stylist muttered as she began to pick through his messy quills with her toughest pair of gloves.

/

He had remembered racing far out of their grasp. It had been exhilarating and entertaining at the same time. The police men were intoxicated and slow so he had raced around them just for the fun of it. They seemed to frustrate quicker whenever he came in reach of a fist and then sped out of reach just in time.

It had all been fun until he had felt something hit his arm. His mind had reeled knowing it would have been close to impossible for someone to get a shot on him while he was running. He grabbed the object that had logged itself in his arm and ripped it out. He screamed in pain, looking down to see a syringe with a needle that hooked at the end.

_What the hell is this? _He had asked himself, grimacing in pain. His vision started to blur, and slowly but surely the officers surrounded him.

He tried to grab the chaos emerald he used to teleport but it was knocked out of his hand the second he tried. Everything seemed to go black after that.

For the first time in his life, Shadow the hedgehog experienced fear.

/

"Who is _that_?!" Sonic almost jumped as he heard his roommate, Tails, peeking under his arm to see outside their apartment door.

"Geez Tails, don't scare me like that." He muttered, waiting on his heart to stop pounding out of his chest.

"Sorry, Sonic…" Tails replied, eyes never leaving the body lying outside their door.

"Its okay, just go grab some dark towels and place them all over the floor in the living room." Sonic said as he unlocked the chain on the door to open it fully.

"Are you sure?" Tails asked quickly, the fear reappearing in his eyes. Sonic gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I've done this before, don't worry."

Tails disappeared into the apartment while Sonic stepped outside to pick up the hedgehog. He was heavy and smelled of alcohol and blood. Smells Sonic was too familiar with due of his occupation.

"Damn, you're heavy." He muttered, gently lifting the hedgehog in case he had suffered internal damage.

One part of Sonic told him to call his buddies at the station, or better yet an ambulance. Another told him to keep it to himself. The two forces started a mental battle and it almost stopped him from bringing the wounded hedgehog into his home.

But in the end, the hedgehog was placed on his back in the middle of the living room. Tails peered over him with a first aid kit on his lap.

"Tails I can handle this." Sonic said with a grim smile, grabbing bandages, rubbing alcohol, and gauze from the kit.

Tails rolled his eyes.

"I can help Sonic, who do you think does all of this when you get back from a shoot out or an on the run criminal?" The fox replied. He quickly took the alcohol from Sonic and began pouring it on the cotton swabs he had grabbed from the bathroom.

Sonic sighed, admitting defeat.

"Are you sure? This might be nastier than those times with me."

"I'm sure, how about you start on his upper torso and I'll handle his legs."

Sonic's eyes widened hearing his usually docile friend take charge and command. But he said nothing and instead focussed on the area he had been told to handle.

"His legs are covered in blood…" Tails muttered. "And gravel, as if someone was dragging him."

Sonic wanted to tell Tails not to look at the hedgehog like an autopsy, but he found himself noticing details as well.

"He has a bite mark on his shoulder too. Geez, this guy didn't have a great night." The blue hedgehog said to himself.

"I'm going to wrap his legs in gauze and then change it in the morning. For the most part it's just scratches that should clot quickly. How's the rest of him?" Tails asked, running to the kitchen to grab a pair of scissors to cut the gauze.

"It's pretty bad around the arms, chest and shoulder area." Sonic replied with a grimace. The hedgehog's upper body was a mess of bruises, cuts and bite marks. Sonic had no idea what or who had attacked him and almost didn't want to find out.

"What if he has damage we can't see?" Tails asked as he returned with the scissors. Sonic shook his head.

"I really hope he doesn't but we can't rule it out." The blue hedgehog admitted, placing a finger to his lip.

"You know what; we'll take him to someone I know tomorrow morning. I'll take the day off to make sure he's gets there and back safely." Sonic finished with a smile.

"'Back' to where, exactly?" Tails asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was thinking he should stay here till he's better, if that's okay with you. I don't know what it is, but something is bothering me about this whole situation." Sonic explained with a nervous smile. Tails stared at him for a second before nodding.

"I think that's a good idea if you feel that way. I feel like I'm part of a crime scene investigation team or something." The fox said with a laugh. Sonic smiled back and shook his head.

"Let's not get carried away now…" he responded before going back to cleaning up the black and red hedgehog.

"You know what…" Tails started, looking up at the television that he had turned off following the arrival of the hedgehog.

"What?" Sonic asked without looking up from the bandage he was wrapping around the hedgehog's arm.

"Did you hear anything about this on the news? I don't remember them saying anything about a fight, or brawl of _any_ sort." Tails asked; his face full of thought.

Sonic looked up and stared at the fox.

_Had Amy even mentioned anything about a victim or a fight?_ He would have remembered that. He should have been called in to deal with whatever had transpired if it had been this serious.

"I think you're right, I don't remember hearing anything either." He admitted, turning back to the bandage. But he stopped himself and stared at the hedgehog as a whole. There had been no news whatsoever on the young male now lying on his living room floor.

"They have to report things like that, don't they? I mean the public has to know about these kinds of things." Tails asked, poking his roommate when he realized he was thinking.

"They don't _have_ to, but they should." Sonic responded tonelessly.

"Sonic, are you alright?" Tails asked, noticing his friend's change in demeanour.

"Could you grab him a blanket from our closet? After that get some sleep Tails, I'll see what I can find out tomorrow." Sonic said as he got up and headed to his room.

"O-okay…" Tails responded, getting up to grab a blanket for the hedgehog.

**I just wanted to say thank you to all the new follows/favs for this story. I hope you continue to enjoy Dark & Stormy. Please review! I really appreciate feedback on my stories and they definitely help me develop and improve my writing. New chapters in the coming weeks!**

**-GeminiMercedes-**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shadow woke up with a terrible migraine. He was almost blinded by it, and it didn't help that sunshine was pouring into the room and rejecting his desire to see anything.

Where was he? Why was he in pain? The questions for which he had no answers hurt him more than the pain his body was feeling.

He looked down to see his arms and legs covered in bandages that had turned a faint pink from what he assumed was blood.

"What the hell happened to me?" He asked softly.

He looked around to see he was in a room with two couches, a coffee table that had been moved to the side, and a small stand that held up a large flat screen television.

"Okay, where am I?" He growled, immediately on guard as his instincts kicked in.

He looked around for a clock but when he didn't see one in the immediate vicinity he settled for turning on the television.

He saw the black remote at his feet, beside a blanket that was tangled around his legs.

_A blanket?_

Now he was _really_ confused.

Ignoring the new questions that had begun to cloud his mind, he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

In a flash of blue he was staring at the most popular news channel in the city. It made him roll his eyes knowing it was the one that featured the annoying pink reporter, Amy something.

It was 8:45 AM and the weather was cloudy with the sun expected to show in the afternoon. Shadow shook his head and was tempted to throw the remote into the television.

This told him absolutely nothing about what happened to him last night, since he still couldn't remember.

"Damnit it all…" He muttered, placing the remote back down on the floor. He almost jumped as he heard a small voice from behind him.

"Um, hello…" He turned to see a yellow fox peaking out from behind a door that lead out of the room he was in.

Shadow would have said something if the room hadn't decided to start spinning and turn black.

/

"He woke up!"

"He _what_?" Sonic blurted out groggily, reaching for his red hoodie. It was a chilly morning.

"Don't worry, he passed out again." Tails said with a small smile as he peeked into Sonic's bedroom.

Sonic groaned.

"Okay I'm up, I'll be out in a minute." He said as he looked around for an acceptable pair of pants.

"I was thinking we should try to wake him up…" Tails said with a grimace. Sonic turned away from his search to look at the fox incredulously.

"Why do you think we should do that?" The blue hedgehog asked with a look of confusion on his face.

"Well if you take him to the hospital and he gets some sort of pain reliever, he'd have to have eaten before hand, right?"

"You're right. Okay, you go make breakfast and I'll see if I can _revive_ him." Sonic said with a smirk.

"Okay, good luck Sonic!" Tails said with a smile as he ran off to the kitchen.

Sonic watched the fox's figure disappear before he picked up some blue gym shorts and headed towards the living room.

He stared at the hedgehog's body, which didn't look like it had moved except for the crumpled up blanket at his feet.

Sonic walked over slowly, placing a hand over the hedgehog's closed eyes to see if he was really unconscious.

"How am I gonna wake him up?" Sonic muttered, pulling his hand back.

"Hey Tails," Sonic yelled, turning his head towards the kitchen. "Did he say anything when he woke up?"

"He tried to, I think! But then he just fell back on the floor." Tails yelled back. Sonic could vaguely hear a blender and decided to leave the fox to what he was doing.

"Thanks!" He yelled back, pondering his next move before turning around.

"Could you do me a favour, and quiet down, please?"

Sonic almost jumped when he heard the voice. He turned to see the dark hedgehog lift himself a little and rub his head.

"What did you say Sonic? I didn't catch that." Tails said as he came out of the kitchen, apron on and towel in hand. He followed Sonic's stare and gasped.

"Uh, Good morning…" Tails muttered.

Sonic was still at a loss for words when the hedgehog turned to him and glared.

"Did _you_ do this to me?" It growled.

/

"I did what you asked me to." She said dryly through the phone. She heard the voice on the other end chuckle. It was a distorted chuckle, but by now she was used to him using the tool she had given him to cover his voice.

"May I ask what I did to deserve this attitude?" The voice replied.

She rolled her eyes.

"Nothing, I'm just busy that's all."

"Hopefully busy doing the things I've asked you to do." The voice replied angrily. It forced her to calm down. Even with the distortion, she knew_ that_ tone.

"Sorry, its been a long day. And of course I'm still working on our joint ventures."

"Perfect, I'll see you tonight at nine." The voice said with the same chuckle. Her eyes widened.

"You'll what?" But the line had already gone dead.

The woman looked around her small apartment and held back a scream.

"He really thinks he_ owns _me." She said with disgust, flinging her phone across the room. It fell into her futon and bounced back on the floor.

She turned around and headed to the door leading to the elevator.

"Sure I'll go see him…after I get some things finished." She said with a tone of finality to no one in particular. She stepped out into the hallway and headed for the elevator.

Had she taken her phone, she would have noticed the new message she had gotten only a minute after her phone call ended.

**NEW MESSAGE:**

**UNKNOWN NUMBER**

_I do own you._

_/_

**Enjoy! Thanks to everyone for the reviews! They are greatly appreciated and really push me to make better chapters. The plot thickens and more characters will be introduced in the next chapter! Stay tuned! As always R&R. **

**-GeminiMercedes-**


	4. Chapter 4

Dark & Stormy

Chapter 4

"Did _you_ do this to me?" It growled. Or rather, _he_ growled. Sonic held his stance. He knew he would have to protect Tails if this hedgehog decided to get violent. He had had cases like this before, but was really hoping this wouldn't be one of them.

Neither hedgehog blinked or turned away.

"Of course not, my roommate and I found you at our door and have been trying to fix you up…which wasn't easy, by the way." Sonic said matter-of-factly.

The hedgehog finally blinked and turned to look at his bandages.

"You…helped me?" He muttered, poking at the bandages on his arms. Sonic winced.

"You might not want to do that. Those were tricky to place and the wounds…" He didn't want to finish, or have the hedgehog freak out while imagining what the bandages were hiding.

"I…so you really helped me?" The hedgehog asked again, looking back up at Sonic. His stare was blank but there was a sense of urgency in his tone.

Sonic nodded.

"Like I told you, it wasn't easy but we got you cleaned up. I _did_ want you to see a doctor though. I don't know if you have any internal injuries." Sonic explained honestly.

The hedgehog nodded in response but said nothing more, leaving a slightly awkward environment for everyone in the immediate vicinity.

"Well…the pancakes are almost done." Tails said with a smile, causing the two hedgehogs to turn to him.

Noticing their stares, the fox blushed with embarrassment and ran back into the kitchen.

"His pancakes are the best, trust me on that." Sonic said with a laugh, turning back to the hedgehog in front of him.

The hedgehog's blank stare never left, but he proceeded to get up when Sonic did.

"I'm Sonic, by the way!" Sonic said with a smile. The black hedgehog simply nodded.

"Shadow."

"Huh?"

"My name, it's Shadow. Shadow the hedgehog." The hedgehog said, crossing his arms.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Shadow. I'll introduce you to Tails in a sec. He's shy but he's a nice guy." Sonic said as he brought Shadow into the kitchen.

The hedgehog followed with no reply.

/

The secretary of the city's police HQ was having a boring day. Blaze the Cat couldn't help but sigh at the overwhelming pile of reports she would have to stamp and file before the week was done. It didn't help that the only one she considered a friend there was Sonic, who hadn't been in for the last couple of days.

Speaking of which, why hadn't the hedgehog reported in? A call would have sufficed. Even though Sonic refused to take on a higher ranking position, his importance to HQ and the city made him a top priority regardless of her rank.

She would have to call him, which she didn't actually mind considering she would have done _anything_ to dodge paperwork at the moment.

Within a few seconds of typing, she had pulled his number up from their registry. Grabbing her work phone, she dialled the number and waited.

It rang twice before Sonic picked it up.

"Uh, Hi?" She would have recognized the hedgehog's voice anywhere, but the questioning tone in his voice told her something was up.

"Hello Sonic the Hedgehog, this is Blaze from the police department." She said quickly. They were friends, but protocol forced her to give him the script introduction.

Not that her personal introduction would have been _that_ far off the grid.

"Oh, hey Blaze! How can I help you?" He responded. Blaze raised an eyebrow. Why was he acting so suspicious?

"You haven't checked in these last couple of days. You know how the higher ups are, Sonic." She responded flatly.

"Oh right! I was going to come in today, but something came up…" He trailed off, and Blaze resisted the urge to roll her eyes and sigh. She really didn't want to get in the hedgehog's business but now she was undeniably interested and his excuse would not leave a good report for her to give to her commissioner.

"Sonic if you have a viable reason for your absence you'll have to take that up with your superiors. You don't get to choose not to call in." She said calmly.

She heard him sigh on the other end.

"It's something…out of the ordinary Blaze. Are you on the office phone?" He asked, whispering towards the end. Blaze's eyes widened. This was getting more confusing and she had a sinking feeling she would have to get more involved than she wanted to.

"Yes I am, Sonic."

"I need your help with something, but I'll need you to come to my place. You have it on the registry right? My address I mean." He said quickly, causing Blaze to automatically turn back to her monitor.

"I'll come during my lunch break." She said softly, looking around to make sure no one was listening in.

"Thanks see you soon." Sonic said before the line went blank.

Blaze stared at the phone with a raised eyebrow before shaking her head and turning to the clock. She had another hour before her lunch break, but she knew she wouldn't get a lot of work done now. This situation with Sonic was too confusing and intriguing to focus her attention elsewhere.

She would just have to see what he was talking about.

/

"Who was that?" Tails asked as he took Shadow and Sonic's plates to the sink to be washed.

Sonic put down the receiver and turned to the blonde fox.

"It was Blaze. She's a cat I work with. She'll be coming over in a bit."

"Oh that's cool. I don't get to meet a lot of your work friends." Tails admitted, turning back to the sink to clean the dishes.

"That's because I don't have a lot of work friends…" Sonic muttered as he went back to sit at the table.

Noticing Shadow's staring, Sonic smiled and winked.

"Don't worry, she's trustworthy. She works with a lot of private information regarding things in the city daily. You can't get that job without criminal and background checks, not to mention a handful of examinations…I guess the pay is worth it." He rambled, trying to reassure Shadow.

Shadow merely nodded and turned back to the window beside the table they were sitting at. He failed to notice Sonic was still staring at him with a sad smile.

The blue hedgehog had failed to mention that Blaze was coming to examine Shadow's injuries. Blaze had a medical background from training she had taken with police HQ. He knew she would be able to give an accurate depiction of Shadow's condition as well as help Sonic figure out what they should do with the black hedgehog next.

"What do you do again?" The black hedgehog muttered loud enough for Sonic to hear.

"Wha-?" Sonic fumbled, still lost in thought.

"What is your profession?" Shadow asked again, turning back to stare at Sonic blankly.

Sonic, for some reason, was lost for words. And before he could recover, Tails had already jumped in.

"Sonic's the best police officer in the city, he's practically a celebrity!" The fox said with pure joy.

Sonic turned back to Shadow after staring at Tails and gave him a sheepish grin.

"He's exaggerating, but yes I'm a cop." He admitted. He had no idea why this was so embarrassing to admit when even he knew it was public fodder. Sonic would never admit it, but he did know of his fame and popularity in the city. It was something he tried to ignore, but it was something he could never really tune out.

Shadow opened his mouth to speak when suddenly he was hunched over, holding his head and moaning.

"S-shadow? Are you okay? Where the hell is Blaze…"

"Sonic, you get him comfortable and I'll get him some water and painkillers." Tails shouted as he dropped the dishes in the sink and turned to one of the many kitchen cabinets.

Sonic threw an arm around Shadow and stared at the hedgehog. His eyes were shut tight and he was wincing as if in excruciating pain.

"We'll get you help, I promise." Sonic muttered, turning back to look at the clock on the wall.

/

Blaze smiled at the clock. 12:10.

She tidied up her desk and grabbed her handbag. She planned to go straight to Sonic's since their phone call had been all she had thought about for the last hour.

She felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out to see who it was.

The number was private, but the message seemed like it came from a familiar person.

**NEW MESSAGE:**

**UNKNOWN NUMBER**

_Make sure you bring your scanner._

"Why would I bring my scanner, Sonic?" She asked aloud. She didn't know for sure if it was Sonic, but she really didn't have any other leads to where the message was coming from.

Scanners were high-tech x-rays that could be carried around in a small bag or box. Blaze had one because of her medical training, but many officers and security personnel carried scanners as well. You could easily scan over a body and figure out if it had any diseases or internal trauma. It was a secret weapon used by upper level officers, but Sonic had always known about it as he had worked with officers who carried them.

If Sonic needed the scanner, the situation had to be worse than she'd thought. She trusted him though, so it was only a moment's hesitation before she picked it up from under her desk and placed it in her bag.

/

**Sorry this took so long! I've been so busy with other creative projects, but I always try to make time for this one. Enjoy! Please R&R!**

**-GeminiMercedes-**


End file.
